Blast rocks Afghan government compound in ongoing attack

AhlulBayt News Agency (ABNA): A number of gunmen exchanged gunfire with the security personnel after entering the compound where an office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled is located, an official and a witness said.

Militants detonated a car bomb before storming a Kabul government compound in an ongoing attack Monday, officials and witnesses said, in the latest violence to rock the Afghan capital.

A number of gunmen have entered the compound where the Ministry of Public Works and an office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled are located, interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.

At least four people have been wounded, health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said.

One had broken several bones after jumping from the third floor of a building to escape the attackers, an AFP correspondent at a hospital said.

Another two were wounded by broken glass.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the raid that began with a bomb-laden vehicle exploding at the entrance. That was followed by a second blast, interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said, though he did not specify the nature of it.

Plumes of black smoke could be seen rising from the compound, with at least two military helicopters circling above.

Ashraf, a witness who works at the Ministry of Public Works and who goes by one name, said militants inside the compound were exchanging gunfire with security forces.

"They are also firing at the NDS facility nearby," he told AFP after escaping the compound, referring to the Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security.

Public works ministry spokesman Mehdi Rohani told AFP he and his colleagues were fleeing to a safe room.

"A car bomb detonated at the entrance of the ministry's parking lot," he told AFP by mobile phone as he ran from the scene.

"I can hear some gunfire outside the building. We are fine."

An Afghan security source told AFP the gunmen had entered the office of the Ministry of Labor, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled.

It is not clear if any employees were still inside the building.

Militants have previously targeted government ministries and departments because they are often poorly defended and seen as soft targets.

Monday's attack was the biggest in Kabul since November 28 when the Taliban detonated a vehicle bomb outside the compound of British security firm G4S, killing at least 10 people and leaving a massive crater in the road.



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